Former Planned Parenthood Head to Detail Women’s Leadership, Jewish Identity in Postponed Talk

BySarah Skinner | September 4, 2018

Gloria Feldt, former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, will chat with Cornellians about women’s rights, her Jewish values and leadership in a lecture on Thursday.

Feldt worked at Planned Parenthood, the world’s largest reproductive health organization, for 30 years before leaving in 2005, according to her website. The talk, sponsored by Cornell Hillel, was previously scheduled for March but was postponed due to weather, according to Julia Katz ’19, major speaker series chair for Hillel.

“We really saw Gloria Feldt as the obvious choice,” Katz told The Sun in March, “[and] a great opportunity to bring this champion of women’s rights.”

Feldt is the co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a movement to help propel women into leadership positions. The organization provides workshops, training and resources for women in industry, in an attempt to reduce the gender parity in top positions, according to Take The Lead’s website.

In her lecture, Feldt will address her advocacy work throughout her career, as well as her Jewish identity.

“Women’s rights have been on the forefront of many individuals’ minds, especially at a progressive campus like Cornell,” Katz said. “[Feldt will] share her experiences with that, as well as her story of Judaism and how her Jewish values impact her perspective and leadership style.”

According to Katz, the ability and desire to bring speakers such as Feldt to campus echoes a trend within the student body.

“With our last event, with the creator and founder of Ted Talks and now Gloria Feldt, I think we’re really starting to bring a lot of speakers to campus that have interesting perspectives on increasingly relevant topics,” she said.

Feldt is the bestselling author of four books. Her latest, No Excuse: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, was released in 2010. She has been published in newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on programs like CNN and the Today Show.

In addition, Vanity Fair named her one of “America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trailblazers,” and Forbes named her one of its 40 Over 40.

Currently, Feldt teaches in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University.

The talk is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. in 132 Goldwin Smith Hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.